Five new species of Euscorpius from Albania, Greece, North Macedonia and Serbia

For the last two decades numerous new cryptic species of Euscorpius Thorell, 1876 (Euscorpiidae) have been described from Europe. This has been possible thanks to molecular phylogenetic in combination with the more traditional morphological characteristics. Frantisek Kovarik and Frantisek Stahlavsky have now published five new species in this genus.

Euscorpius bonacinai Kovarik & Stahlavsky, 2020 (Albania)

Euscorpius janstai Kovarik & Stahlavsky, 2020 (North Macedonia)

Euscorpius kabateki Kovarik & Stahlavsky, 2020 (Greece)

Euscorpius sadileki Kovarik & Stahlavsky, 2020 (Serbia)

Euscorpius scheraboni Kovarik & Stahlavsky, 2020 (Greece)


Two new characteristics for Euscorpius identification are also presented.

Abstract:
Five new species are described: Euscorpius bonacinai sp. n. (Albania), E. janstai sp. n. (North Macedonia), E. kabateki sp. n. (Greece), E. sadileki sp. n. (Serbia), and E. scheraboni sp. n. (Greece), fully complemented with color photographs. New species are distinguished from all other species of the genus on the basis of five taxonomic characters. Two other new characters, shape of the pedipalp chela fingers and number of chromosomes, are presented and discussed. In addition to the analyses of external morphology, we also describe karyotypes of two species: E. janstai sp. n. (2n=112) and E. sadileki sp. n. (2n=90).

Reference:
Kovarik F, Stahlavsky F. Five new species of Euscorpius Thorell, 1876 (Scorpiones: Euscorpiidae) from Albania, Greece, North Macedonia, and Serbia. Euscorpius. 2020(315):1-37. [Open Access]

Family Euscopiidae

Scorpions in the Palestinian territories

Mazin B. Qumsiyeh and co-workers have recently presented a study of the scorpions found in the Palestinian territories.

Chromosomal data for three species are presented and discussed for the first time.

Abstract:
Seven species were collected from several habitats in the West Bank, namely Leiurus quinquestriatus, Androctonus crassicauda, Compsobuthus werneri, Orthochirus scrobiculosus, Hottentotta judaicus, Nebo hierichonticus, and Scorpio maurus. Karyotypic data on Leiurus quinquestriatus (2n=22), Hottentotta judaicus (2n=16), and Scorpio maurus fuscus (2n=52) are reported here for the first time.

Reference:
Qumsiyeh MB, Salman INA, Michael S, Amr ZS. Records of scorpions from the Palestinian Territories, with the first chromosomal data (Arachnida: Scorpiones). Zoology in the Middle East. 2013;59(1):70-6. [Subscription required for full text]

Thanks to Gerard Dupre for informing me about this paper!